24 firms debut on China's "new third board"

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's National Equities Exchange and Quotation (NEEQ), also known as the "new third board," saw 24 new small and medium-sized enterprises this week.

The newcomers brought the total number of companies on the board to 11,620, according to new NEEQ data.

From Feb. 26 to March 2, turnover on the board stood at 1.64 billion yuan (about 259 million U.S. dollars), surging 479 percent from the previous week.

NEEQ was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in serving small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is seen as an easy financing channel for small businesses, with low costs and simple listing procedures.